one afternnon this week.
one afternnon this week.
Thanks, it was a great day. The Purbeck hills are tough on the legs, but beautiful for cycling. I had to pinch myself sunbathing on the short Sandbanks chain ferry crossing, in October!
I was a bit naughty as I managed a pint in both the Square & Compass and the Scott Arms.
I can't recommend this route highly enough for any London folk who want a further afield cycling day out.
Couple this with the current Southwest Trains weekday return promotion from London to Bournemouth (or any station down to Weymouth) for only £15 return and it's a billy bargain.
Will be doing this route again with my son in half term as the promo is still running until the end of October.
Testing out 11 speed campag and campag wheels for the first time. First impressions are good 👌
Argon 18 Gallium from Canada (Taiwan)..
My first commute into the office today and it was freezing this morning so I'll need to pick up some winter kit.
Can anyone advise a good under seat storage bag like in the picture above as I need one of those also.
Thanks
Topeak do good quality bags. I got a pair of winter gloves in Aldi today for £4.99. They had thermals and bib tights etc too, perfectly ok for trashing through winter commutes.
F.T.F.A.
Well, I just got a couple of these: http://fabric.cc/shop/waterbottle/ and they really are quite an elegant solution to the bottle cage problem...
I'm very impressed for the price.
Mark C
Not long back from Mallorca and even though I hired a similar bike it just wasn't the same as mine. It may have been 25 degrees cooler this day but no less enjoyable
Haha! I'm in my 40s so realise I'm not going to be a Bradley Wiggins !.. its just a way to try and keep the middle age spread at bay!
It's nice to sit outside Harts Boatyard in summer although service can be a bit slow..if you haven't tried it already I've found the Albany is quite good (and by the river ).
If you ever see a chubby guy on a black / red and white cube puffing away stop me and say hello!
Don't know yet (bike is on the trainer now) but these guys have had a proper go and rate it:
http://factoryjackson.com/2015/06/22/fabric-cycling-cageless-water-bottle/
Cheers,
MarkC
My latest 'moment of madness' toy. There aren't many (any!) mountains in Lincolnshire, so it's been bought simply for local trail, and some road, riding. That said, me being past it, it's surprising how even the slightest of inclines can seem like Alpe d'Huez :-(
Anyway, it was bought on a tight budget and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with it for the money. Shimano hydraulic brakes, 27 speed Shimano groupset (though Suntour crank) - a bit clunky now and then but not too bad, and a little adjustment after bedding in should see it right. The Raidon forks have preload adj., rebound adj. and lock out - for what I'll be doing they are totally adequate. RockShox air forks would have been very nice, but you're stepping up into another price range to get those as standard and it would have been overkill.
The seat, for something in this price range, is incredibly comfortable which is a big plus!
The first thing that people tend to notice about the bike, and they've drawn a lot of comments, are the tyres. They seem mahooosive. 2.25" width and huge profile on 27.5" rims. But, pumped up to 60 psi they pedal surprisingly easily.....thank God!
All in all I'm having great fun with it :-)
60psi???
You must be pinging off of everything on the trail, I'm running both 27.5's and 29's around 30 psi and I think that might be a touch high
Great looking bike though.
Last edited by Captain Morgan; 18th October 2015 at 05:17.
30 or so is all you need in a MTB tyre. Or if tubeless around 26-30 for the best combination of grip and performance
A friend of mine has a Kona on 26" wheels. I then buy my new 27.5" model.
Today he comes round for a cuppa and informs me that he's ordered a new 29er.
We figured that if this carries on we'll both be riding Penny Farthings by this time next year :-)
29ers are so 2013... 650b Plus is where it's at this week.
(still riding a 26" bike and loving it)
I prefer my 26". Not sure how the manufacturers are going to "improve" things next year. Maybe a massive padded seat will improve our riding, as long as it's the total opposite of what they've being trying to sell us this year it will be fine.
As for pressures I run 25 front and 27 rear at trail centres.
Still prefer a old school 26" wheel MTB, quick shot from todays ride.
Put some 25c tyres on for a change...
Just picked this up:
Should get the build done over Christmas.
Also picked up a set of 140 travel Fox Float 32's for a steal on ebay.
Looking at using my existing Mavic Crossrides and getting new XT 2x10 groupset and SLX brakes.
Last edited by Chris W; 25th November 2015 at 21:53.
Anyone recommend a good chain lubricant for a road bike?
Having tried a few I settled on finish line pro-road, tend to not over-apply and just a dab on each roller done carefully while running the chain backwards and starting at the join pin.
Seems to last well and not get noisy even when it looks like it needs a top-up.
I might try the Wiggle own brand lifeline wet lube that seems to get good reviews.
I use Morgan Blue race oil along with the rest of their products for cleaning and maintenance. Very good stuff although bear in mind its designed for frequent light applications. If you are putting a bike into storage for a couple weeks then there are other products better suited.
putoline chain wax, in a small deep fat fryer, sounds daft but works I have it on all my bikes now lasts forever and isn't washed off in the wet.
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/to...line-chain-wax
Thanks for all the (chain!) Lube recommendations!
I'll look to get something this weekend
I've tried various methods. Settled on one that I find returns the chain as close to a new chain as possible.
Remove chain, into a bucket of degreaser, brush and agitate until all grease removed. Thoroughly dry the chain off with an old towel. Finally the chain goes into a pot of cheap 15W40 engine oil. Wipe off the excess and refit to the bike.
In the mean time, I usually remove the back wheel and brush/degrease the cassette, wipe the chain rings with a rag and grease the dérailleur pivots.
There's a lot of discussion about this on the World Wide Web .. on my (relatively inexpensive) hybrid I use regular applications of GT85 as a combined cleaner / lubricant and that seems to work quite well but probably isn't ideal. On the road bike I also use it as a cleaner, but leave it a day or so then apply a squirt of BikeHut chain lube to each connection in the chain. I don't ride in the wet.
I use Pedro's GO! on my chains. A quick blow through the rollers with GT85 and an application of this will last several rides and gives a smooth and quiet ride. When I deem it necessary the chain comes off for a degrease, chainset and cassette off and disassembled for a thorough clean. For packing hubs and headsets I use Silkolene Pro-RG2 waterproof grease, and I just got a small tub of Motorex carbon grease for installing a carbon seatpin.
F.T.F.A.
Some very complicated chain cleaning routines on here, I don't have the time or patience for that! Any light lube in the summer, Muc Off wet lube in the winter which seems to hardly ever need reapplication but is quite messy. Throw the chain away and put a new one on every 2-3k miles before it has worn enough to affect the chainrings and cassette.
Can anyone recommend a good ladies road bike <£500?
My daughter and also my neighbour ride Specialised Vita's. They are referred to as "flat barred road bikes"
Ive ridden my daughters and its quick and being specialised build quality is good.
I have seen a few ladies on Dolches see link, hoever I dont have any first hand experience.
http://www.bicyclechain.co.uk/produc...FRaNGwodmV0IjQ
Steve
Used this technique 30 plus years ago on motorcycle chains and guess what it works!!!!!
Only stopped on mc chains with the introduction of "O" ring chains , where the hot chip pan caused the o rings to swell and release the grease and defeat the reason for dipping the chain
Yep, always used to boil motorcycle chains in grease. And sausages.
MucOff dry lube is fantastic stuff - doesn't seem to pick up road shite much. Haven't used the wet lube yet but if it's up to their usual standard then should also be great.
I have a Park Tools chain cleaning tool that is the DB - I try to hit 100 miles per week (45 and like my booze) so I tend to give the chain on the roadbike a good clean every week or two. Takes ten minutes and definitely makes a difference. Nothing worse than a crunchy chain.
I have a stunning Specialized Carbon 29er Hardtail spare in Large if anyone can make use of it, running 1x10 and Hope Pro 2 Tubeless, Stunning ride that I have put across Taly-bont and Pen-y-Fan and never wanted anymore from from a bike
Not quite but Ribble have a Black Friday offer on their Evo Pro Carbon with Shimano Tiagra groupset for £599. Bought this more my wife today (well I upgraded the wheels to Mavic Aksiums and a couple of other minor tweaks for a little bit more - spent £670). I've been looking for a while for her and this rates as one of the best deals out there as the Evo Pro carbon is a very decent frame.
Come the summer, and the inevitable quest to make my bike as smooth as possible; I can see myself trying it when the house is empty one day. New waxed out of the packet chains are £20-odd so a chip pan from a car boot sale and some wax has to work out cheaper.
Tried 2 different sets of jockey pulleys in my Dura-Ace equipped Swift Ultravox earlier this year, trying to get it spinning more freely. Didn't like the standard ceramic bushes as the rubber dust seals seem to create friction. Anyone else had this?
My wife's new bike. Dolan Etape with SRAM Rival 22 groupset and Mavic Aksiums. Nice first bike weighing in at about 8kgs and good Black Friday bargain: